Garment support



C. L, BRALEY GARMENT SUPPORT Oct. 22, 1935.

Filed June 25, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l 0a. 22, 1935. R L 2,017,944

GARMENT SUPPORT Filed June 25, 1932 /2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 22, 1935 Charles L. Braiey, Cincinnati,

The American Laundry Ohio, assignor to Machinery Company.

Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 25, 1982, Serial No. 819,803 8 Claims. (Cl. 211-89) My invention relates to a garment hanger, which may form a part of either a stationary or a conveyor type of garment hanger support as used in laundries or the like, in combination with a garment hanger support.

The objects of my invention are to provide a garment hanger for supporting garments, and apparatus for supporting and conveying garment loaded hangers during and between the various laundry finishing operations; to provide a garment hanger so constructed as to preserve the true and natural form of the garment by eliminating the necessity of having to open the garment or place it over the hanger in applying the garment thereto; to provide a garment hanger which lends itself to the natural handling of the garment by the operator in applying it thereto;

to provide a garment hanger of a nature to permit the garment to be grasped at an established desirable point in transferring the garment from a finishing machine to the hanger or from the hanger to the machine; to provide a garment hanger embodying a flexibility that will adapt it for use with garments of varying yoke and shoulder widths; to provide a garment hanger that will permit ready and complete inspection of the garment and permit it to be made simultaneously with each finishing operation and thereby eliminate such inspection as a separate and distinct operation; to provide a garment hanger that will decrease the time necessary for the transfer of garments from one finishing operation to the next finishing operation; and to provide a garment hanger that may be used singly or in group arrangement with full protection to a finished collar against crushing or other distortion.

Various other objects and advantageous features of my invention will be seen in the following description and one embodiment thereof may be seen in the accompanying drawings wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a garment hanger and support constructed in accordance with my invention and showing several garments applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan view showing a multiple garment support embodying two sides on which garments are supported; Fig. 3 is a plan view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a multiple garment support having four sides on which garments may be supported; Fig. 4 is an elevation of a spring strap that forms a part of the hanger; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, showing two garment hangers mounted on a rack adapted to carry a plurality of the hangers; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, showing the center posts, garment hangers and garment hanger supporting racks vthat make up the device shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a plan view showing a plurality of garment hangers as mounted on and carried by an endless conveyor chain; and Fig. 8 is an elevation of the device shown in Fig. 7.

Refen-ing to Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings, the 1 garment'hangers each consist of a plate or backing l shaped to extend outwardly and downwardly at an angle from a suitable support. Each plate or backing i is provided with a series of loops 2 adjacent its opposite ends, the loops 2 being stamped out of the plate or backing'as shown, if desired, and being of a size to receive concave-convex spring straps 3. One end 4 of each strap 8 is slightly bent and, after being passed through one of the loops 2 as shown in Fig. 5, is adapted to be inserted in a slot 5, there being a slot 5 for each of the loops 2. Thus, the spring straps 3 are securely held at one end and also intermediate their ends whereby to provide a definite spring contact as at 6 between the plate or backing i and the outer ends of the spring straps. The outer ends of the spring straps 3 are preferably bent upwardly as at l and the outer edge of the plate I is bent downwardly as at 8 which provides a guide for directing garments between the spring straps and the plate or backing as will be apparent.

These spring straps 3 are readily removable or assembled with the plate or backing l by removing the one end 4 of the spring straps from the slots 5 and pulling the straps out from under the loops 2 or threading the straps through the loops 2 as shown in Fig. 5 andspringing the ends 4 into the slots 5. 'The plurality of loops 2 provide a means for adjusting the hanger straps to w accommodate large or small garments. For example; when small garments are to be supported the straps 3 may be threaded through the loops 2 closest to the center of the plate or backing or inserted through the outermost loops for the 230- commodation of larger garments.

In Figs. 1 and '7 of the drawings, 1 have shown a plurality of the hangers as applied to a hanger support which consists of a base 9 supporting a vertical post I 0. Brackets II and I! are slidably mounted on the post I 0 and are provided with radial extensions l3 and M on which hanger supporting frames ii are carried, each frame I! shown in this instance as having a plurality of the hangers hereinbefore described mounted a thereon and spaced one above the other. The brackets II and I2 and the frame I! form a single integral part of the apparatus which may be adjusted to various heights on the post I0 and which may be secured in these various heights by means of a set screw IS, the lower bracket I2 being splined on the post I0 as shown in Fig. 6.

The lower bracket l2 includes two members I1 and I8, the member II carrying the extensions I4 and the member l8 taking the form of a collar mounted on the post III. As shown, the collar III is provided on its upper surface with an annular groove I9 coinciding with an annular groove 20 on the under surface of the member II when the parts are in assembled relation, and steel balls or the like 2I are disposed in these coinciding grooves to separate the member H from the collar I 8 and provide for rotation of the member I! on the collar I8 and hence movement of the bracket II, frames I! and the hangers hereinbefore described about the post II) as an axis.

In order to stop movement of the parts about the post III as an axis and hence stop the desired hanger supporting frame I! at a preferred point, a pin 22 which is backed up by a spring 22 in compression is provided in the collar l8 and is adapted to engage in indentations 24 spaced at equal intervals on the under surface of the member 11, the indentations 22 being so arranged that the pin 22 will enter an indentation when one of the groups of hangers is presented at the desired point. If it is desired to permanently set the groups of hangers in one position with respect to the base 9 and post III. a set screw 25 provided in the member I1 and whose inner end sets within an annular recess 26 in the collar is may be tightened, the set screw also providing a means for preventing separation of the member l1 and collar I8 in a vertical plane.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. I have illustrated how any number of hanger supports and hence groups of hangers may be disposed on the base 9 and post I0, there being two groups of hangers in Fig. 2 and four groups of hangers in Fig. 3 instead of the three groups of hangers shown in Fig. 1.

In Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings, I have shown a continuous conveyor chain type of hanger support on which the hanger hereinbefore described or a number of hangers are carried and consisting of spaced posts 21 supported on bases 29 and having sprockets 29 rotatably mounted on their uppermost ends. One or a plurality of hangers are secured to bars 30, each of which forms a link of an endless chain 2i. The sprockets 29 are here shown as square sprockets with one or a plurality of hangers supported by each single link although other types of chain and driving means might be used in accomplishing the same result. The sprockets 29 and posts 21 are spaced apart by a framework 32 which carries guideways 22 on which the chain 9| slides. Likewise, the frame 22 may be a support for a motor 24 that drives one of the sprockets 29 through a worm 2B and worm gear 36, the worm shaft 21 being supported in a bearing carried by a bracket 38.

For adiusting the spacing of the posts 21 and sprockets 29 to tighten or loosen the chain 2|, a block 29 is secured in the channels of the framework .22 and is connected to a movable block carried by one of the posts 29. An adjusting screw H is threaded through the stationary block 29 and engages the block 20 with a free connection whereby rotation of the screw will move the block 20, one post 21 and one sprocket 29 away from the other post and sprocket or permit the posts and sprockets to be moved toward one another. suitable automatic control means may be provided for the motor 34 if desired or the motor may operate continuously at slow speed to present 5 garments at a given point at predetermined intervals.

In the operation of this apparatus and considering the first finishing operator as being stationed at the cuff and neckband presses and the 10 bosom press, the operator performs a finishing operation and then applies the garment to one of the garment hanger: With the type of hanger hereinbefore described, the operator grasps the garment at the intersection of the shoulder and 5 yoke seams and after removing it from the buck applies it directly to the hanger by inserting the garment between the plate or backing I and the spring straps 2, as shown, without the necessity of changing hands or removing one hand to open 20 the garment as would be necessary with the type of hanger insertable through the collar or collar band. It will be noted in Fig. 5 that the finished collar or neckband of the shirt is between the spaced spring straps 2 and that when so placed g5 the collar is resting on the backing I in a substantially upright natural position and lying inwardly from the edges 8 so that it is not contacted by the body of the garment suspended from the next above backing. Thus, each backing in its ex 3 tended position not only provides a means of holding the garment in a normal suspended D051. tion but also protects the collar of the next lower garment from being crushed. It is also important to suspend each garment from the same relative as points, that is, near the shoulder seams. Thus, for a run of small garments, the spring straps 2 may be placed near the center of the backing and may be reset in the outer loops 2 for larger garments. During this operation, the garment is in m such position that the operator may quickly glance and inspect all portions of the garment Just finished and the garment has neither been distorted nor lost its form as created by the finishing operation. If the operating characteris- 5 tics of the particular finishing department are such that it is the operator's duty to finish a plurality of garments before they are passed to the next operator, the garments may be applied to the plurality of hangers of one group beginning with the lowest hanger and working upwardly to the top of the group as shown in Fig. 1. Then. the support may be moved to present the group of garments to the next operator. Of course, if the operating characteristics are such that one operator passes the garment directly to the next operator after the finishing operation. the garment may be applied to a hanger and the support rotated to a position to immediately present the garment to the second operator. w The second operator, who may be performing the body pressing operations, removes a garment from a hanger by grasping it with both hands near the tail of the garment, the garment being easily removed without distortion and being so 55 grasped because it is the most natural and convenient part of the garment to grasp for applying it to the buck of the body finishing press. Having completed that particular finishing operation, the operator removes the garment from the g buck of the press by grasping it as previously described at the intersection of the yoke line and shoulder seams and applies it to a single or one of a group of garment hangers, the garment, as

before, losing none of its finished form and u permitting complete inspection as previously. These operations are carried out through the complete cycle of finishing operations, or until the finished garments are presented at the folding table.

With the above construction, itwill be seen that I have provided a garment hanger and a garment support which will permit garments to be subjected to the various finishing operations, placed on and removed from the hanger and carefully inspected with the least possible eflort and without the garment losing its finished shape and being distorted in any manner, as well as permitting a quick and complete inspection of the garment. This is partly due to the inclination of the backing portion of the hanger which, as shown, does not produce sharp bends in the hung garment, and to the entire hanger construction which maintains the garment in its finished shape. The hanger and support are of a nature to increase the quality and production I results without necessitating skilled operators.

What I claim is:

1. A multiple garment support, comprising a plurality of shelves, each adapted for'underlying support of the collar and yoke parts of a garment with the remaining garment parts dependent from the near shelf edge, and each sheli having a pair of laterally spaced clamp means for releasably securing said overlying garment parts, on opposite sides of the garment collar, means mounting said shelves one above the other in spaced relation to receive and clear the garment collars therebetween, with said, dependent garment parts disposed in shingled relation, each pair of clamp means being associated with its shell for adjustment 01' said lateral spacing of its 5 clamp means to flt a selected one oi. a plurality of garment sizes.

2. In a garment support of the class described and having a shell, clamp means for securing an overlying garment part against said shell! and 10 comprising a resilient member removably secured at one end with said shelf and having its other end yieldably bearing against the shelf, said securement including an eye part on said shelf, through which said resilient member is inserted, l5 and means adjacent said eye part to receive the end of said member.

3. A garment support comprising a shelf adapted for underlying support of the collar and yoke parts of a shirt garment, means mounting said to shell disposed with a forward slope in elevated position to permit the remaining garment parts to be dependent from the near shelf edge, and a pair of clamp means cooperative with said shelf for releasably securing said garment parts, over- 2.5

lying the latter on opposite sides of the garment collar, said clamp means being arranged -to clear said collar and the clamping parts being arranged to receive the garment-parts to be secured, by rearward sliding thereof over the so shelf.

CHARLES L. BRALEY. 

